BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO Begins Previews Tonight!

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, featuring Robin Williams, begins previews tonight, March 11, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 W. 46 St.). The show officially opens on March 31.

A finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO is a new American play by Rajiv Joseph and is directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Moises Kaufman.

The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning actor Robin Williams will make his Broadway acting debut in BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, having previously appeared Off-Broadway opposite Steve Martin in Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" at Lincoln Center in 1988.

In Rajiv Joseph's savagely funny and deeply affecting play, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO - a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Drama - a tiger haunts the streets of present day Baghdad seeking the meaning of life. As he witnesses the puzzling absurdities of war, the tiger encounters Americans and Iraqis who are searching for friendship, redemption and a toilet seat made of gold.

Rajiv Joseph is an American playwright whose plays include GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES, ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER, HUCK & HOLDEN, ALL THIS INTIMACY and THE LEOPARD AND THE FOX. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2009 Kesselring Fellowship from the National Arts Club, and the 2008 Paula Vogel Award for emerging playwrights presented by the Vineyard Theatre.

Robin Williams has more than 40 industry honors to his credit including four Oscar nominations and one win, two Emmy awards, four Grammys and six Golden Globes, including the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award.

In 2009, he concluded his hugely successful comedy tour entitled Weapons of Self Destruction. The show was filmed over two nights at Washington, DC's DAR Constitution Hall, and premiered on HBO as the network's most successful stand-up comedy special of the year, earning three Emmy award nominations.

Williams began his career as a stand-up comedian and has created a repertoire of indelible characters, first in the hit series Mork & Mindy and then in numerous film roles. In 1997, Williams received Academy and Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance in Good Will Hunting, having been previously nominated by the Academy for performances in The Fisher King, Dead Poets Society, and Good Morning VietnaM. Williams' blockbuster films include Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage, Jumanji, Hook, two Night at the Museum films; and the animated films Aladdin, Robots, and Happy Feet.

Having trained at the famed Juilliard School under John Houseman in New York, his other stage credits include a landmark production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Steve Martin, and a short run in San Francisco of "The Exonerated," which tells the true stories of six innocent survivors of death row.

Best known philanthropically for his affiliation with Comic Relief, Williams supports numerous causes and has toured the Middle East numerous times with the USO.

A stage actor and former theatre producer, Hrach Titizian has appeared in the Universal film "The Kingdom," and in "The Men Who Stare at Goats" with George Clooney. Sheila Vand appeared in the Los Angeles Theatre Company production of PORTRAIT OF THE ARCHITECT IN RUINS and was a regular on the television series "Prom Queen." Necar Zadegan appeared in the West Coast premiere of Diana Son's play STOP KISS and in GILGAMESH at Boston Court Performing Arts Center in Pasadena.

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO has scenic design by Derek McLane, winner of the Tony Award for 33 VARIATIONS, and nominated for both RAGTIME and THE PAJAMA GAME.Costume design is by David Zinn, whose credits on Broadway include XANADU and A TALE OF TWO CITIES, and Tony nomination for IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY.

Lighting design is by David Lander, a Tony nominee for 33 VARIATIONS and who previously designed A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, I AM MY OWN WIFE, DIRTY BLONDE and GOLDEN CHILD on Broadway. Sound design is by ACME Sound Partners, winner of the 2010 Tony Award for his sound design for the musical RAGTIME, and nominated for IN THE HEIGHTS, FENCES, HAIR and Irving Berlin'S WHITE CHRISTMAS and Cricket S. Myers, an Ovation nominee for her work on the Los Angeles run of BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO.

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO has original music composed by Kathryn Bostic, who previously created music for August Wilson's plays RADIO GOLF and GEM OF THE OCEAN on Broadway.

Moisés Kaufman received a Tony nomination for his direction of Doug Wright's play I AM MY OWN WIFE, and a Tony nomination as playwright for 33 VARIATIONS, seen on Broadway last season starring Jane Fonda. As founder of Tectonic Theatre Project, he wrote and directed GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF Oscar Wilde, and directed THE LARAMIE PROJECT, which he co-wrote with other members of the company.

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO will perform Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street) on Broadway. Tickets to BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO are available by calling Ticketmaster at 877-250-2929 or 800-745-3000 . Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or by visiting www.bengaltigeronbroadway.com.